There is a quilt store near me that does rent their long arm. I am signed up to take the mandatory class in early Sept. I think it would be a good option for people who would like to learn to use a long arm and do their own quilts but do not have the money or the space to purchase one of their own. And for some, they may find they don't enjoy it and will be glad they did not have a huge cash outlay involved. As for me...I want to learn how to do it but, at the moment, I simply do not have the extra money to purchase my own. I'm the person who wants to get my quilt finished and I hate having to wait 3-6 months for another person to get to my quilt. I think taking the class and renting time on the machine will be a good option for me until I can afford one of my own.

I wish you nothing but success on your venture, nothing lost nothing gained, I say go for it & have fun having your machines within your reach when you need them and helping people learn how to work the machines & then buying them from you. I truly hope you get this idea up and running! :thumbup:

Sounds like a plan.....I'm too far away to be any use....but I would love something like this where I live.

Our LQS used to do that, but the only technique they allowed was edge to edge With a pantograph. And there was a lady assigned to be your resource person who would help you when needed. So you would end up doing it for 3 straight hours in the morning, have a bag lunch, and then back at it in the afternoon. It really wasn't much cheaper than getting someone to do an edge to edge, but it was easier to have it done by a certain date, and you knew "I did it all myself". But when the resource person retired, they stopped doing it, so I'm not sure if it was financially a good thing for them or not.

For all those reasons, I think you are going to enjoy using the shop's long arm. I did a total of about 5 or 6 before my LQS stopped doing it.

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhh, I would love having that option here. Good Luck, hope you get it up and running and it's a huge success.

i have seen seen that offered in several shops in Oklahoma. One issue is the ability to finish in one setting or the need to remove the quilt so others can use the machine. One shop required a zipper type attachment to load and unload the quilt more easily. I think it was the shop in Blanchard, OK. Sorry I cannot remember the name but you could call and see the pitfalls from someone else who has tried it in their quilt shop.

I personally love the idea

One reason I like renting time on the long arm is so I can say I made the whole quilt myself. The other, it's much cheaper to do it myself than send it out, at least in my area.

I pay $25.00 an hour, and the machine is a computerized (panto patterns) Gammill. The initial "training" was $150.00, and $29.95 for the zipper. They open at 10:00 a.m. and close at 3:00. They only book one person on each machine, per day. If your quilt is extra large (CA King) and can't finish by the time they close, they stay until you are done, which is nice. There's no pressure to finish. They don't make you take it off the frame and come back. There's a 3 hour minimum, and the price includes thread. She has batting available for purchase, on the roll, if you don't bring your own. It's lots of fun and I've met wonderful people there to socialize while I am quilting. I really like it. I can get a 78 x 88 done in 3 hours.

Hope this helps. I say you should go for it.

Can you survey the quilters in your specific area? Maybe through your guild. You need to know if that is a doable plan in your area. A lot of us out here would use it, but you need to know about the quilters in your area.